New Delhi: Calling Bangladesh India's "closest friend", President Pranab Mukherjee said the country attaches high importance to its relations with the eastern neighbour.

File image of Pranab Mukherjee. Reuters

The president said this while meeting trainee officers of the Bangladesh Foreign Service, who called on him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mukherjee said he was delighted to see them as he called them "worthy representatives of a great nation". They will bring new ideas and a new system of governance, he said.

The President emphasised that to create a happy society was also the responsibility of modern governance. He further added that he was confident that they would be able to carry forward the legacy of trust and amity between the two countries, as they pursue their career in the Bangladesh foreign service.

He said India attaches highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh, a close neighbour and with which we share a lot in common. "Bangladesh is India's closest friend and relationship between the two countries is exemplary in many ways. India and
Bangladesh share a common bond of history, language, culture and strong people-to-people ties. This shared history unites us in unique and special ways," he said.

The president said that now when Bangladesh is free and liberated and is engaged in its own development, the sacrifices of its martyrs are vindicated.

"It is heartening to see impressive strides made by Bangladesh on human development, health-care, education, women empowerment and other socio-economic fronts," he said, reminding the young diplomats that the future of Bangladesh is in their hands.